I've talked before about comfort food, sharing my favorite recipe for white bread. I love nothing more than a thick slice of toasted white bread with some flavor of berry preserves.
When I've had a long day, though, and I'm starving, toast isn't going to cut it. I want a warm, hearty meal to fill me up.
I want stuffing. I could make an entire meal out of stuffing. One way I control my portion size of stuffing is to, well, stuff it inside the main protein. This works well with both pork and chicken. Served with a side of your favorite vegetables, you have a complete meal.
Make sure you get pretty thick-cut pork chops, so that you have enough room to cut a space for the stuffing. This is a rather "plain" stuffing, so feel free to jazz it up with your choice of herbs — sage, rosemary and/or thyme all pair well with stuffing. Increase the flavor by seasoning the pork with the same herbs you add to the stuffing. Use fresh or dried; just remember that dried herbs have a stronger flavor, so use about a third less of dried herbs than you would fresh.
Stuffed Pork Chops
Adapted from About.com
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter, divided
- ¼ cup chopped onion
- 1 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
- 1 tablespoons finely chopped celery
- 1 tablespoons butter or margarine
- Salt and pepper
- ¼ teaspoon poultry seasoning
- 1 cups soft bread crumbs
- ¼ cup water or broth
- 4 thin boneless end loin pork chops
Directions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Make the stuffing: in a large skillet set over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Sauté the onion, parsley and celery. Add salt and pepper to taste, and the poultry seasoning.
- Place the bread crumbs in a medium mixing bowl, and pour the onion mixture over top. Add just enough of the water to stuffing to moisten (you may not need the whole ¼ cup).
- Place the pork chops on a cutting board, and using a small, thin knife, cut a pocket into one side of each chop, being careful not to cut all the way through to the other side.
- Stuff one quarter of the stuffing into each chop.
- Line a 9x13 baking dish with tinfoil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Place each chop in the dish, and cover with another sheet of foil. Bake for 60 to 75 minutes.
Elaine
Wednesday 10th of October 2012
I'm a sucker for bread too. Always craving carbs! This recipe sounds great. I might add some diced apples in the stuffing to jazz it up even more. Thanks for sharing!